Bears And Moose And Bobcats Increasingly Making State Their Home

As fall fades to winter, animal control officers might get a break from answering phones to hear about moose, bear, bobcat or other wildlife seen strolling through neighborhoods.

In the fall and spring, as many as 10 people call daily to report seeing bear, said animal control officer Alicia Campbell of Winchester.

In late summer, a 500-pound male wandered through the northwest Connecticut town near Wallens Street; homeowners along Highland Lake snapped photos of a bear swimming in the lake; a man called about a bear that strolled up and snatched a peanut butter sandwich off his porch; and another Winchester resident looked up from his computer screen to see a bear about to saunter in through his open patio door.

Awhile back, Campbell's husband was on a ladder painting their home. "He [had] come down, and there was a bear in the garden," she said. "So, he just turned around and went back up."

Connecticut is a lush haven. Reported sightings of moose, bobcat and fisher have increased steadily in the past two decades — though no animal has flourished more than black bears.

Annual reported bear sightings increased from 75 in 1995 to 3,153 in 2010, according to data provided by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

We are sharing more intimate space with the wild things for several reasons, ranging from new construction to conservation measures fostered by environmentalists and legislation.

Bear and moose lumbered into Connecticut from Massachusetts in recent decades as their populations boomed up north and new generations of animals staked out new territory. At the same time, people live in, and continue to move to, developments that once were prime habitat for bear, moose, bobcat, fisher, raccoon, foxes and other animals.

Moose sightings reported in Connecticut increased from an average of six annually in the 1990s to an average of 102 annually for the past five years. Last year, 76 moose sightings were reported, and two years ago there were 204 reports of moose sightings.

Bobcat sightings are up, too. The number of bobcat seen and reported annually to Connecticut wildlife officials increased steadily from fewer than 75 in the late 1990s to between 152 and 227 from 2001 through 2011.

People are reporting animal sightings not just to DEEP officials, but also to animal control officers in town governments and to the Connecticut Forest & Park Association, which maintains 825 miles of blue-blazed hiking trails across the state.

"We do get pictures, periodically, sent to us: pictures of bobcats and of all sorts of interesting wildlife," said Eric Hammerling, executive director of the forest association.

"The bears and fisher cats have been the two that we've heard the most about from people who have called us up," Hammerling said. "They're pretty dramatic. Fisher cats, if you've ever heard one screaming in the forest, that will wake you up. … For a relatively small animal, it's a pretty ferocious sound."

Reported sightings are not a scientific analysis of probable animal populations. The statistics are skewed because quirks in the self-reporting system can result in over-reporting in some areas and under-reporting in others.

For example, in places where bear have become a common sight, people might not call state officials every time they see one. Separately, some animals are nocturnal, like coyotes, and their populations are less evident to the general public. Additionally, the DEEP offered an online self-reporting system for animal sightings in December 2002, and there was a jump in the numbers.

Despite all of the statistical caveats, it's clear some species have rebounded in recent years.

"In the late 1800s and earlier, there were just no laws for protecting many species of wildlife, including bears," said Paul Rego, a DEEP wildlife biologist. "And, in fact, there may have been laws to encourage the opposite – you know, bounties."

That changed with an increased appreciation of environmental issues, fostered by writers including Ralph Waldo Emerson, and resulting legislation including the Pittman-Robertson Act of 1937 that established federal aid for wildlife restoration.

A Menagerie With Varied Needs

Restoration efforts and restrained hunting mean that suburbanites see a wider variety of animals than the occasional deer. Still, there are some sightings that remain relatively rare.

For example, seeing moose in Connecticut is still fairly rare. They're most often seen in two areas — east of the Connecticut River around Stafford and Union; and west of the river in northern Litchfield and Hartford counties.

It's not likely the population will increase the same way bear and deer have flourished because moose are at the southern end of their comfortable environmental range, said Andrew LaBonte, a DEEP wildlife biologist who specializes in moose and other species.